검색 상세

HISTORICAL LEGACIES, LANGUAGE, AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF BELONGING : KORYO-SARAM IN CONTEMPORARY SOUTH KOREA

초록(요약문)

The story of Koryo-saram in South Korea is shaped by displacement unfolding over a long historical period, cultural rupture, and the long journey back to an ancestral homeland that no longer fully resembles the one their ancestors left behind. This study examines how Koryo-saram or ethnic Koreans from Russia and other post-Soviet states who have returned and now reside in South Korea, form and experience their sense of belonging. Relying on a qualitative methodology, it employs in-depth interviews to explore how historical events, particularly Soviet policies of Russification and the subsequent loss of the Korean language, shape contemporary processes of belonging in South Korea. The study conceptualizes belonging through several key dimensions, including intergenerational transmission of the Korean language, access to social circles, perceived acceptance by South Korean society, self-identification, and everyday cultural practices, all of which contribute to the formation of a multi-layered and fluid sense of belonging. The findings indicate that language acts as a central domain of belonging and simultaneously the most significant obstacle. Limited or absent Korean language proficiency not only directly affects the formation of belonging but also restricts access to social networks, influences societal acceptance, and intensifies hybrid identities, while Russian-language cultural heritage continues to occupy a central place in daily cultural practices. At the same time, the study shows that the loss of Korean language does not eliminate the sense of belonging. Rather, it transforms it, creating a complex, multilayered belonging in which Korean and Russian-Soviet elements are deeply intertwined. Taken together, the study underscores the importance of historical context in analyzing contemporary migration processes, showing that patterns of belonging among Koryo-saram are inseparable from the structural legacies of the Soviet past. It further demonstrates that belonging is negotiated primarily through linguistic practice rather than ethnic identification, thereby expanding theoretical understandings of minority identity formation. This work offers a valuable contribution to diaspora studies and highlights the need for further comparative research on groups shaped by historical trauma and prolonged cultural distance from their ancestral homelands.

more

목차

Acknowledgements 4
Table of Contents 6
Abstract 8
Chapter I. Introduction. 9
A. Background of the study 10
B. Contributions 12
Chapter II. The History of Koryo-saram 15
A. The History of the Korean Diaspora in Russia and the USSR before the 1930s 15
B. The 1937 Forced Relocation 17
C. Russification 18
D. The Post-Soviet Period and the Current State of Koryo-saram 20
Chapter III. Literature Review & Theory 23
A. Theories of Integration 24
B. Theories of Belonging 27
C. Theoretical argument: Koryo-saram in South Korea 35
Chapter IV. Research and Methodology 40
A. Research Design 40
B. Research Question and Variables 45
C. Ethical Considerations 46
Chapter V. Results 47
A. General Statistics 48
B. Belonging 49
C. Language Transmission 50
D. Social Circles and Membership 52
E. Acceptance 54
F. Self-identification 56
G. Cultural Continuity 58
Chapter VI. Discussion 62
A. Belonging 62
B. Language Transmission 63
C. Social Circles and Membership 65
D. Acceptance 66
E. Self-identification 67
F. Cultural Continuity 68
Chapter VII. Conclusion 72
References 84
Appendix 90

more
반출 Meta View 목록